Sartaj Aziz to visit India for Heart of Asia Conference

Islamabad: Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs, said that he would travel to India to attend the Heart of Asia Conference in December, asserting that his visit could be a “good opportunity” to “defuse the tension” between India and Pakistan.

The conference is scheduled to be held in India on December 3 in Amritsar. Aziz would be the first senior Pakistani official to visit India since the September 10 Uri attack, blamed on Pakistan-based militants, that led India to pull out of the SAARC Summit in Pakistan in November.

“Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India,” Aziz told the media. “It’s a good opportunity to defuse the tension,” PTV quoted Aziz as saying.

Dawn reported that Aziz also said he himself will participate in the conference and will not repeat India’s blunder where it boycotted South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.

Aziz, however, said it has not been confirmed yet whether he will meet his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the conference or not.

The Adviser also said that the US president-elect Donald Trump would deserve Nobel prize if he intervenes and succeeds in resolving the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. “Trump would deserve Nobel prize if he helps resolve Kashmir dispute,” he said on a lighter note while responding to a question.